n4k33n
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2007
- Posts
- 328
- Likes
- 11
From when I first started getting into high fi and headphones, I knew I was a sennheiser guy. My first set of headphones were my HD580s, powered by a PPAv2 with an ipod as a source. This was an absolutely incredible setup to me, I'd never heard anything like it before. I loved the warm worldly sennheiser sound. The kind of sound that you can close your eyes and each layer of music comes in waves of euphoric bliss. This was the sound for me.
My girlfriend had a pair of SR-80s from a couple years ago that she didn't use because they're too loud to use at school or work. So they just sat in the closet. Every once in awhile I would dig them out and plug them directly into my ipod, because they only have a mini plug. They sounded decent, but I was underwhelmed. They didn't hold a candle to my hd580s.
Well, time has gone by and I built an HD650 system, upgrading my cables to zu and my source to a microdac. Pure sennheiser bliss. Everything ive ever wanted in my sound I was experiencing.
But the thought came over me yesterday. I'd never listened to the SR80s amplified, or with a decent DAC. Surely it would be worth the cost of a mini converter to see what it was like. Simply, I was not prepared for the results.
These are some incredible headphones! Its like night and day. Suddenly a mediocre sound becomes a bright, clear, yet booming sound. Always with my sennheisers I could feel the raw power behind the sound, and now I was feeling it with the grados too. Entire dimensions in the music I've found that I was never exposed to before. HD650s may trounce the sr80s in electronica and classical, but these little sr80s have this raw energy that is channeled directly into me when listening to my favorite punk and metal. It reminds me why I got into those genres in the first place. Incredible.
Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is, Grados really are good headphones if powered properly. I let the 30ohm impedance fool me, which was a huge mistake. They sound so much better amplified and with a dac behind them.
I almost feel embarrassed I had such great headphones just sitting in a drawer for months and months. Anyway, now that my eyes are open, I'm considering some sr225s
.
My girlfriend had a pair of SR-80s from a couple years ago that she didn't use because they're too loud to use at school or work. So they just sat in the closet. Every once in awhile I would dig them out and plug them directly into my ipod, because they only have a mini plug. They sounded decent, but I was underwhelmed. They didn't hold a candle to my hd580s.
Well, time has gone by and I built an HD650 system, upgrading my cables to zu and my source to a microdac. Pure sennheiser bliss. Everything ive ever wanted in my sound I was experiencing.
But the thought came over me yesterday. I'd never listened to the SR80s amplified, or with a decent DAC. Surely it would be worth the cost of a mini converter to see what it was like. Simply, I was not prepared for the results.
These are some incredible headphones! Its like night and day. Suddenly a mediocre sound becomes a bright, clear, yet booming sound. Always with my sennheisers I could feel the raw power behind the sound, and now I was feeling it with the grados too. Entire dimensions in the music I've found that I was never exposed to before. HD650s may trounce the sr80s in electronica and classical, but these little sr80s have this raw energy that is channeled directly into me when listening to my favorite punk and metal. It reminds me why I got into those genres in the first place. Incredible.
Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is, Grados really are good headphones if powered properly. I let the 30ohm impedance fool me, which was a huge mistake. They sound so much better amplified and with a dac behind them.
I almost feel embarrassed I had such great headphones just sitting in a drawer for months and months. Anyway, now that my eyes are open, I'm considering some sr225s
